From time to time, Sonja has the irritating habit of not drinking wine. She takes a night, even a week sometimes, and fasts from wine and coffee — the very things I love most in life, aside from my family of course. This week is one of those times, and the problem is that I typically refuse to open our “good” bottles of wine (read: expensive) when she’s not sharing them with me. So, knowing this, last night on our walk we went past Corkscrew, and I asked Zach for “the cheapest bottle of white wine you have that I could stand to drink.” This is what he came up with.

To be honest, I’ve never had a Pinot Gris from New Zealand that I can remember, so I’m not comparing this to anything else, merely rating it on its stand-alone merits. The 2015 Opawa Pinot Gris is a pale lemon color with long legs and a nose that begins sharp and citric, then tapers off to fade into notes of mild lemon and honeysuckle. A bit of body, maybe medium minus, the palate offers lemon notes mingled with the mildest grass (nothing like a classic Sauv Blanc from the same country, far less imposing) and some pleasant hints of mineral. High in acid with a lingering finish, it paired well with a seafood stir fry and pasta last night.

In the $10/bottle range, this wine is a great QPR, and served as a good introduction to what New Zealand can do with this varietal. 89 points on my scale, and I recommend it.